COMPUTER SOFTWARE, APPS, AND IT SUPPORT - Handbook

Below is the text from the employee handbook regarding IT support and services.

Computers, Software and Electronic Devices 

Employees are not permitted to install, modify, update, or remove any computer software, or attempt to repair or replace any computer hardware, except as asked to do so by IT staff.

Employees are not permitted to use another employee’s user account.

IT Support 

The IT Department is responsible to see that computers and software function. Supervisors are responsible to train employees to use the computer, handheld and software.

Support for the most common issues can be found at choicebooks.com/help. In the search bar, enter a generic term like “password,” “Wi-Fi” or “Bluetooth” to help find articles you want. Or you can “View All” and look through the different folders and topics.

If you cannot find the answer to the issue at the aforementioned website, contact your supervisor (or the identified person from your district for IT help). They can help you make the decision on how to best escalate the issue.

Normal support hours are Monday through Friday 8:30 am to 5:00 pm, Eastern Standard Time. Support is closed during evenings, weekends, and paid holidays. Limited emergency support is available after hours, but “emergency” is open to interpretation by IT staff.

If additional help beyond what is available at choicebooks.com/help is needed, below is direction related to escalating an issue.

E-mail: support@choicebooks.com 

Emailing support@choicebooks.com adds your issue to the support queue and notifies multiple members of the IT Department. The first available team member can then pick up your issue and provide assistance. This allows IT to easily collaborate, document the resolution, and find similar issues from the past.

Contacting IT team members directly by phone or email, stopping them in the hall, or walking into their offices makes tracking issues more difficult. Always start by emailing support@choicebooks.com to ensure that your issue is well-documented and in the queue.

Text or call the emergency phone number 

While technical problems are frustrating, and you usually want help immediately, this method should only be used for real emergencies. Your manager will have this number and it can also be found in the help link above.

Several examples of issues where texting or calling this number may be appropriate are:

• You encounter printer or handheld issues while servicing that keep you from continuing servicing, and you and your supervisor are unable to correct the issue. 
• You receive a ransomware message or enter your password in a scam/phishing site.
  

When you contact support, describe the problem and provide updates. Put effort into a detailed written description of the problem. Pictures or screenshots of actual error message are extremely helpful in beginning to trouble-shoot a situation. General messages such as “Can you give me a call?”, “I have a question”, “X doesn’t work”, or “It’s too complicated to write out” are not helpful.

When IT Support responds, if they have additional questions, the questions will be very direct, specific, and concise. Do your best to respond with a direct answer to the specific question/s being asked.

Stay engaged with the process. If IT Support is working on an active situation, please continue to give immediate/timely responses to questions and updates if you note any changes to the issue being worked on.

When the problem is fixed, let IT know immediately, especially if you have contacted the emergency line.